The man, who allegedly grabbed a girl before she ran away, was detained by an alert citizen

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Grant Pittman, of Winchester, was arrested and booked by the Hemet Police Department on Monday, Aug. 26, 2013, for allegedly masturbating in public and trying to grab a girl, police said.

A 22-year-old Winchester man was arrested Monday after allegedly masturbating inside a department store and grabbing a teenage girl, according to the Hemet Police Department.

About 4 p.m. Monday, police received a call about a man masturbating in a store in the 1200 block of S. Sanderson Avenue in San Jacinto, about 85 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

The man, identified as Grant Pittman, left the department store and blocked traffic in the street, before ultimately returning to the store where he grabbed a teenage girl and pulled her toward him, Hemet police said.

The girl was able to escape, and an alert citizen detained the Pittman before police took him into custody, police said.

Pittman was booked on charges of sexual battery, indecent exposure and annoying/molesting someone under 18 years of age. He is being held in lieu of $25,000 bail and is expected in court Thursday.